This invention relates to detection of lost arrows, and particularly to a metal detector for mounting on an arrow shaft to enable a user to detect lost arrows.
Bow hunters and archers occasionally lose arrows in the field upon missing a target. While the general location of the arrow is known to the hunter or archer, the exact location often is not. More particularly, arrows might be lost in brush or other thick underbrush, making them difficult to see by the hunter or archer.
Dryden in U.S. Pat. No. 5,094,463 and Wycoff et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,157,405 proposed techniques to locate lost arrows by placing transmitters iii the point or shaft of the arrow such that the transmitter transmits signals to a receiver carried by the hunter or archer, thus enabling the hunter or archer to locate the lost arrow. However, because hunters and archers typically shoot several arrows before retrieving any, several arrows must be fitted with the transmitter, thereby adding to the cost of the detection system. Moreover, these devices alter the weight and balance of the arrow shaft, thereby affecting the trajectory of the arrow. Some devices, such as that proposed by Wycoff et al., employ antennas fastened to the external surface of the shaft. These external antennas alter the aerodynamics of the arrow and affect the trajectory of the arrow. Usually, the effects of altered weight, balance and aerodynamics cannot be compensated by the hunter or archer, so arrow trajectory becomes more uncertain. There is, therefore, a need for a simple, effective detection device for detecting the lost arrow.